In today’s Gospel, Jesus doesn’t have many complimentary things to say about the Pharisees. He labels them as blind guides. How can someone who is blind guide another person? The simple answer is they should not have this task at all. And that is precisely the point of Jesus here. Any leader needs to have a very clear vision of where he or she is leading their flock, or else they are a disaster waiting to happen. 

Jesus often confronts the Pharisees concerning their leadership as they have strayed from the right path. They are often more concerned with their own welfare than with leading the people to God. This, for Jesus, is travesty of justice. Let us pray that our leaders never fall into the trap of getting caught up in the minutiae of legal interpretations of he law and missing its point as a consequence.

Our faith is ultimately a relationship with Jesus—or it is nothing at all. Our faith needs to be always focused on strengthening that relationship by living out the demands of the Gospel and sharing the Good News of salvation with others. These two things are good measures of whether or not our focus in life is right. It is critical that we stop once in a while and ask ourselves whether or not we are straying from these two goals.

Jesus challenges the Pharisees to look beyond their own personal comfort and concerns for status in the eyes of the world. The same is true for us. These things do not really matter—what matters is that we grow in love for the service of Jesus and the Gospel. 

Fr. Steve Tynan, MGL 

reflection question

How do you make sure you do not lead wrongly the people God has put under your care?

Jesus, help me to keep my eyes firmly fixed on You. May I always see through the lies and deceptions of the world and treasure my love for You and my service to Your Gospel. Amen.

Today, I pray for: ________________________________

Even when a situation seems hopeless and no solution is in sight, God provides a way to victory. Do you believe this? I do, because I have witnessed it time and again in my own life. God has paved the way for His will to unfold in the life of someone as insignificant as me. He has moved mountains to bring me to where I am today. May we, too, respond generously to His call.

¹ The following message came to Jeremiah from the Lord. ² Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel:  Write all the words I have spoken to you in a book. 12 For thus says the Lord: Incurable is your wound, grievous your bruise; ¹³ There is none to plead your cause, no remedy for your running sore, no healing for you. ¹⁴ All your lovers have forgotten you, they do not seek you. I struck you as an enemy would strike, punished you cruelly; ¹⁵ Why cry out over your wound? Your pain is without relief. Because of your great guilt, your numerous sins, I have done this to you. ¹⁸ Thus says the Lord: See! I will restore the tents of Jacob, his dwellings I will pity; city shall be rebuilt upon hill, and palace restored as it was. ¹⁹ From them will resound songs of praise, the laughter of happy men. I will make them not few, but many; they will not be tiny, for I will glorify them. ²⁰ His sons shall be as of old, his assembly before me shall stand firm; I will punish all his oppressors. ²¹ His leader shall be one of his own, and his rulers shall come from his kin. When I summon him, he shall approach me; how else should one take the deadly risk of approaching me? says the Lord. ²² You shall be my people, and I will be your God.

Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 102:16-18, 19-21, 29, 22-23  (or Psalm 51:3-4, 5-6, 6-7, 12-13)

R: The Lord will build up Zion again, and appear in all his glory.

¹⁶ The nations shall revere your name, O Lord, and all the kings of the earth your glory, ¹⁷ When the Lord has rebuilt Zion and appeared in his glory; ¹⁸ When he has regarded the prayer of the destitute, and not despised their prayer. (R) ¹⁹ Let this be written for the generation to come, and let his future creatures praise the Lord: ²⁰ “The Lord looked down from his holy height, from heaven he beheld the earth, ²¹ To hear the groaning of the prisoners, to release those doomed to die.” (R) ²⁹ The children of your servants shall abide, and their posterity shall continue in your presence, ²² That the name of the Lord may be declared in Zion; and his praise, in Jerusalem, ²³ When the peoples gather together, and the kingdoms, to serve the Lord. (R) 

Gospel | Matthew 15:1-2, 10-14

Today, we remember St. John Vianney, the patron saint of parish priests. This man lived a simple life and spent eighteen hours a day in the confessional. People would travel from hundreds of miles away just to go to confession with him. His holiness attracted many, but his fame never distracted John from his ministry. Day after day, he would pray, eat a little, and hear confessions. It may sound boring to you, but it was joy to St. John Vianney, man of great faith. 

Gospel Acclamation

Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.

¹ Some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, ² “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They do not wash their hands when they eat a meal.” ¹⁰ He summoned the crowd and said to them, “Hear and understand. ¹¹ It is not what enters one’s mouth that defiles the man; but what comes out of the mouth is what defiles one.” ¹² Then his disciples approached and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said?” ¹³ He said in reply, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. ¹⁴ Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”

Reflect

What is more important to you: the traditions of the Catholic Church or wisdom from the Scriptures? Why?

Read the Bible in one year! Read 1 MACCABEES 9 - 10 today.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus doesn’t have many complimentary things to say about the Pharisees. He labels them as blind guides. How can someone who is blind guide another person? The simple answer is they should not have this task at all. And that is precisely the point of Jesus here. Any leader needs to have a very clear vision of where he or she is leading their flock, or else they are a disaster waiting to happen. 

Jesus often confronts the Pharisees concerning their leadership as they have strayed from the right path. They are often more concerned with their own welfare than with leading the people to God. This, for Jesus, is travesty of justice. Let us pray that our leaders never fall into the trap of getting caught up in the minutiae of legal interpretations of the law and missing its point as a consequence.

Our faith is ultimately a relationship with Jesus—or it is nothing at all. Our faith needs to be always focused on strengthening that relationship by living out the demands of the Gospel and sharing the Good News of salvation with others. These two things are good measures of whether or not our focus in life is right. It is critical that we stop once in a while and ask ourselves whether or not we are straying from these two goals.

Jesus challenges the Pharisees to look beyond their own personal comfort and concerns for status in the eyes of the world. The same is true for us. These things do not really matter—what matters is that we grow in love for the service of Jesus and the Gospel. 

Fr. Steve Tynan, MGL 

reflection question

How do you make sure you do not lead wrongly the people God has put under your care?

Jesus, help me to keep my eyes firmly fixed on You. May I always see through the lies and deceptions of the world and treasure my love for You and my service to Your Gospel. Amen.

Today, I pray for: _____________________________